If you have been trading for some time, particularly in a prop firm setting, chances are you believe you have MT5 figured out. You load up charts, toss some indicators on there, enter trades, and monitor your equity curve. That sounds fairly simple, doesn’t it?
Well… not quite.
MT5 is the equivalent of having that multi-tool in the drawer. Yes, you use the knife and possibly the scissors, but there’s a bottle opener, screwdriver, and some mysterious thing you can’t even think of naming—despite the fact that it might help save your life someday. With trading, prop traders just scratch the surface of what MT5 is capable of doing.
Today, we’re discussing the things you may be overlooking—or not utilizing to their full capacity—that can give your game a serious level up. These aren’t tricks. They’re features designed directly into MT5 that will enable you to trade wiser, better handle risk, and get more out of your funded account.
The Depth of Market (DOM) – More Than Just a Pretty Ladder
If you’ve ever clicked the DOM tab in MT5 and closed it immediately because it “looked confusing,” you’re not alone.
But Depth of Market isn’t just for scalpers or high-frequency traders—it’s for anyone who wants to get a better feel for market liquidity and order flow.
DOM reveals to you the live list of buy and sell orders at varying price levels. As a prop trader, this implies that you are able to:
- Identify liquidity pockets (perfect for finding support and resistance that really counts).
- Recognize where big orders are waiting (magnet zones for price).
- Adjust your entries under turbulent conditions.
Many traders forget about DOM because it appears threatening. But if you begin observing how the price behaves when large orders are being consumed—or withdrawn—you’ll find that it’s valuable to have open during busy days.
One-Click Trading – Quicker Than You Can Blink
Prop firm policies tend to favor traders who can act promptly without overanalyzing (reasonably, naturally). If you’re still opening the order window by hand, entering the lot size, and clicking “buy” or “sell,” you’re squandering valuable seconds.
One-Click Trading on MetaTrader 5 allows you to open, adjust, or close trades with one click directly from the chart or the DOM window.
For scalpers, this is a no-brainer. But even swing traders can benefit when sudden news hits or price reaches your pre-determined levels faster than expected.
Just remember—speed is a double-edged sword. One-Click Trading will execute your order instantly, so don’t go clicking around when your coffee hasn’t kicked in yet.
The Strategy Tester – Your Personal Trade Lab
If I said MT5 comes with an integrated simulator where you can test strategies against actual historical market data—without putting your prop account at risk—would you be using it every day?
Yeah, I thought so.
The Strategy Tester isn’t exclusive to algorithmic traders who operate Expert Advisors (EAs). You can also use visual mode to backtest discretionary strategies. This allows you:
- To test a new entry strategy before taking it live.
- Analyze performance under varying market conditions.
- Find your ideal settings for indicators you currently use.
Most people are aware that the Strategy Tester is out there but never bother with it because they find it’s “too technical.” In the real world, spending a couple of hours here can save you thousands of dollars in expensive errors on a live prop account.
Custom Timeframes – Because the Market Doesn’t Care About Standard Intervals
MT5 includes the suspects you would expect—M1, M5, H1, D1—but this is the exciting bit: you can set your own timeframes.
Why does this help prop traders?
At times, the default timeframes don’t provide the best visualization. Perhaps you need a 12-minute graph to capture intraday ranges, or a 3-hour graph to fill the gap between H1 and H4.
You can achieve these special charts through the use of the “Period Converter” script in MT5. It’s like a made-to-measure suit rather than one off the rack—it just suits your strategy better.
In-Built Economic Calendar – No Alt-Tabbing
News trading in a prop environment is risky, but being unaware of the upcoming events is riskier.
MT5’s integrated Economic Calendar eliminates the need to switch back and forth from your platform to Forex Factory or Investing.com every hour. It’s all right there, integrated with your charts.
You can sort events by significance, set reminders, and even open an event up by simply clicking on it for more information. If you’ve ever been caught flat-footed by a surprise rate decision, this feature will be your new BFF.
Multi-Currency Market Watch – Look at the Entire Field
Many traders fall into the trap of ultra-concentrating on just one or two currency pairs. That’s good enough for a specialized strategy, but it can also leave you oblivious to better deals elsewhere.
MT5’s Market Watch allows you to view multiple symbols in real time. You can:
- Sort by spread and view the cheapest pairs to trade today.
- Monitor correlated markets to validate trade setups.
- Switch between charts fast without clutter.
In a prop firm environment, where performance statistics count, the ability to change gears when your main pair is asleep can be critical.
Partial Close and Multiple TP/SL Levels
Here’s one that many traders don’t even know exists: you can partially close trades in MT5 without resorting to multiple standalone positions.
Why’s this useful?
Suppose you are in profit but do not wish to close out the entire position. Partial close allows you to lock in some profit and let the rest ride. It complements scaling strategies well—something most prop traders fail to do while pursuing consistency.
And you can have multiple take-profit and stop-loss levels with scripts or EAs. It makes trade management far more dynamic than the conventional “all in or all out” method.
